FORMER bad boy Justin Bieber has shown his soft side and encouraged fans to get behind the NHS Choir bid for the Christmas number one .

The singing sensation who has stormed the charts with his comeback album after dominating headlines as a rouge teen has found himself some Christmas spirit.

Justin tweeted his fans a link to download the charity single after hearing news of his competition.

After hearing the news that the race to the top was close, Bieber tweeted his fans a link to download the charity single.

"I'm hearing this UK Christmas race is close...but the @Choir_NHS single is for charity," he wrote.

"So for 1 week it's ok not to be #1. Let's do the right thing & help them win. It's Christmas. @Choir_NHS good luck http://www.nhsno1.com/download," he tweeted, sharing the link to his 71.9million followers.

"This is what it's all about. Merry Christmas :)".

Junior doctor Harriet Nerva, 26, who founded the campaign told the Mirror: "Wow. I'm speechless."It's amazing that he's come through and he's pledged his support for such good causes.

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"I think staff will light up inside. He's one of the biggest stars in the world and for him to support the NHS like this is a fabulous thing.

"It's a mark of how far this campaign has come. It's a charity single by an NHS Trust choir. We can't believe it."

It's the closest race to Christmas Number 1 since Rage Against The Machine went up against the X Factor single in 2009.

And it looks as though the NHS Choir have a good chance of snatching the victory from Justin Bieber in the nail-biting battle.

The singing group is now just a handful of sales behind the pop star in today's sales flash, OfficialCharts.com has revealed, while X Factor winner Louisa Johnson is far behind in the race with Forever Young.

Based on Official Charts Company sales and streaming data, the Lewisham & Greenwich NHS Choir's A Bridge Over You has closed the gap overnight and as of December 23, is just 662 combined sales behind Bieber's Love Yourself.

The battle is now the closest festive chart race in years, since Rage's Killing In The Name took on Joe McElderry's The Climb and ultimately won.

With two days remaining until this year's Official Christmas Number 1 is announced, there's now every chance the NHS could bag it at the last minute.

Martin Talbot, chief executive of the Official Charts Company, said: "As well as climaxing on Christmas Day for just the fourth time in history, this year’s race for the festive Number 1 is looking like one of the closest ever.

"With just two days to go, it really is too close to call – possibly the most exciting battle since Joe McElderry took on Rage Against The Machine in 2009.”

The NHS Choir's single is being released in support of the hard work done by doctors, nurses, midwives and others and proceeds are going to a charities including Carers UK and Mind.

The Official Christmas Singles Chart Top 40 will be counted down on BBC Radio 1’s Official Chart Show with Greg James between 10am and 1pm on Christmas Day.